Can We Keep Her?
by CatalynnCastellan
Summary: Thalia, Luke, Annabeth. The good old days before things were complicated. A LOT of Thuke lemons to come, I JUST finished the big "I love you" thing :
1. The feely one

"So, at this rate, we should be in South Dakota by…three weeks?" I ask doubtfully, checking the maps again. Luke's hand traces our route carefully. "Seems right. Maybe four and a half, if we don't hurry fast enough."

I nod, marking the spot where the St. James River should be. Three weeks wasn't all that bad, considering how far away we were. "Do you think the safe house is still-"

"Shh." Luke says suddenly, holding a hand up. "I heard something." I stay silent, but hear nothing. "Really?" I ask hesitantly. "Yeah, don't you feel that?" he says, regarding me questionably. I shake my head. I catch his nervous glance even though he turns so I won't. "But Luke, it's umm, fine because…well, you are the…feely one." I tell him, trying to compromise. He turns to look at me, smiling teasingly. "The feely one?" he asks sarcastically. I laugh, hitting his shoulder half heartedly. "Shut up…"

"No, wait," he begins, still smirking, "If I'm the feely one, what does that make you?"

"The one who's willing to say stupid things to make you feel better." I laugh, pulling my jacket on. He laughs to and helps me up. "Let's go check it out at least." He says resolutely. "You mean, before it checks us out, whatever it is?" I answer. He nods, checking his belt for his knife. I don't need to. I quickly flick my wrist and feel the cold silver fall back on my skin. I shiver, picking up my spear. It's getting colder, it being January and all. At least, I think it's January…

Luke walks us up the old alleys with caution. I look around. Solid, brick buildings, ivy crawling up along their walls. Abandoned, no doubt. I walk slowly to avoid causing noise with the million pieces of litter strewn all over the ground. What ground I can see is concrete, cold and a dirty, ashy gray. Since it's still early, a light fog surrounds us, making the place ten times creepier. Wait, what was that? Laughing? Jason! I stop suddenly, turning to find where the sound has come from. Silence. What the hell? But, but I could swear I heard his l-

_No, Thalia, stop it now, it's fine, it's not your fault, no, not your fault_. I repeat silently. I look ahead, up at Luke.

His blonde hair. I force myself to look away immediately. No, I couldn't think about it, I just couldn't…

"Ahh," my voice catches in my throat before I can stop it, a horrible choked sound. Luke turns, worried. "You okay?"

I exhale again, not meeting his eyes. "Fine." I manage. He's obviously not convinced, but whatever. The sooner we leave the better. I walk up to his side and walk faster. "Stop. It's right there." He whispers, catching my wrist. "What?" I murmur. He tilts his head towards the docks, and I vaguely catch the sharp scent of salt water. I follow his gaze. "That shack…thing?" I ask him, sure he's kidding. It's a stack of boxes, a tiny little space, covered with a thin wall of tin.

It's shaking.


	2. Annabeth Chase

Okay! I'm sooo sorry for leaving this chapter out. I was suddenly realizing that it goes from them finding the box to Annabeth randomly chillin' with them, so I had to fix that. Love you, and thanks for reading!

"Luke, I swear, if a monster attacks us, I'm blaming you." I mutter, not sure if he can hear me. He does and grins at me, his expression amused. "You? Afraid of monsters? Come on, you're too brave for that."

I roll my eyes and try to hide a smile. Of course I was brave now, with him at my side…he practically hacked at everything while I stood behind him, raising my shield like an idiot. I'm pretty sure he thinks I can't handle it. Hmm. I'd have to prove my maturity _somehow_ to him sometime later…

He cocks his head to the side of the box and I quickly flank it on the right. My blood quickens. He looks up at me, those blue eyes intense and concentrated. "One." He mouths. "Two, three!"

We rip away the sheet of tin, and some rabid blonde animal comes out, attacking Luke. Wait. Wait, it's not an animal…_is that a little girl? _

Yes, a very scared little girl wearing red flannel pajamas, her skin pale, like Luke's.

"No!" she's screaming, fighting him. He manages a tight hold on her wrist and a hammer she had been holding skitters across the cement. Her eyes watch it fall hopelessly, huge with fear.

"It's okay!" Luke promises his voice husky from being kicked over and over.

"No more monsters!" she shouts fiercely, attempting to bite Luke's wrist. He's barely managing her. I watch, unsure what to do. "Thalia," he says, "Put your shield up! You're scaring her."

Gods, he's right. I quickly tap Aegis and it melts into a delicate little silver bracelet again. The girl's watching me, slightly confused. So that meant her mind was right. If she could see things the way Luke and I did, that meant there was no way she was all human. "Hey, it's alright." I promise her, using that voice I only used with Jason. "We won't hurt you. I'm Thalia, this is Luke."

"Monsters!" she accuses. That was it then. She was a half-blood. Luke must have picked up on this too, but I think the only thing on this mind was calming her down. "No," he says gently, his tone mirroring mine somewhat, "But we know all about monsters. We fight them too."

"You're like…me?" she asks carefully. Luke nods, kneeling so he's at level with her. I do the same, sitting by her. "Well…" I begin, completely lost. I've never had to explain this; I just kind of assumed it was only me and Luke. "Well, yeah, I think so." Luke finishes. "I-it's hard to explain, but we're monster fighters. Where's your family?"

"My family hates me." She answers promptly. "They don't want me, so I ran away."

I lock eyes with Luke, his entire face solemn. She is one of us. I smile down at her trying to keep this harrowing discovery light. "What's your name, kiddo?"

She beams up at me. "Annabeth."

"Nice name." Luke compliments, a light smile on his lips. "I'll tell you what, Annabeth, you're pretty fierce. We could use a fighter like you."

I smile, liking where this is going. Annabeth seems to, as well. "You could?" she asks, her voice hopeful. "Oh, yeah." He says dismissively. "Poor Thalia here needs someone to protect her."

I stick my tongue out at him, pretending to be hurt. Annabeth laughs, and I realize I like the sound very much. Luke pulls out a blade from his pack. He hands it to Annabeth, pointing the bronze hilt toward her. "How bout a real monster-slaying weapon? Works a lot better than a hammer."

Annabeth stares at it attentively while Luke explains the weapon to her. "It takes a clever warrior to use a knife, but I get the feeling you're pretty clever."

"I am!" Annabeth says, watching Luke with those huge gray eyes of hers. "We'd better get going, Annabeth," I tell her, touching the crown of her head. "We've got a safe house on the St. James River up in South Dakota. We'll get you food and something to wear."

"You're not taking me back to my family?" Annabeth asks, her voice suddenly off. "You're a part of our family now." Luke says, placing a protective hand on her shoulder. "And we promise not to let anything hurt you. I'm not going to fail you like our families did us. Deal?"

"Deal!" she replies, elated.

"Well come on. We can't stay put for long!" I tell them, taking Annabeth's hand.


	3. Can I Tell You Something?

_**Two weeks later: Safehouse in Yankton, South Dakota**_

"What's your family like, Thalia?" Annabeth asks impulsively. Luke's body tenses, anticipating my reaction. The message gets to her, and her apologizes are rushed and quick. "Sorry, s- sorry. I just, I-" she says quickly, her gray eyes widened. I shake my head. "It's fine." I tell her. A short silence follows. "Do you…umm, still want to know?" I ask her, knowing the answer. Of course she does. Annabeth seems to want to know everything, and not in a bad way, she just wants to understand the world around her. Understand it in a far more complicated context than any other seven year old. She nods slowly. I exhale sharply, resting my head on Luke's shoulder, Annabeth at my feet.

"Well, my mother was a very sad person, I guess you could say. She has a lot of money, and no idea how to use it. She ran with the wrong crowd and…I left." I say quietly, each word hurting my heart. Luke rests his head on mine and annabeth hugs my knees. "Sorry." She whispers, not meeting my eyes. I touch her hair. "Don't be. I've got you now." I answer, just as silently. Luke touches my face and rises, hesitating before finally leaving the tent. I watch the flap wave slightly in the wind and notice it's dark out. "Hey, Annie?" I whisper, prodding her shoulder. "Mmm?" she asks sleepily. "Um, go to sleep now, alright? I'll be right back."

She nods in assent and slowly crawls into the sleeping bag beside mine. I brush back her honey blonde hair back again and kiss her forehead. "'Night kiddo." I whisper. After her lavender eyelids are shut and I'm sure she's asleep, I leave the tent as well.

Luke's sitting on a log outside, his hands clenched together at his lips. "You okay?" I ask him. "No." He answers honestly. "What's wrong?" I ask him, sitting beside him and taking his hand. He stares at our intertwined hands, a question on his face. I smile. "People do that to comfort each other."

"I knew that." He says sarcastically. Then a serious expression touches his face, reaches those bright blue eyes. "What I didn't know is how good it would feel."

I grin, pleased with the feeling myself. "I haven't held anyone's hand since…" Jason. "A while."

"So does this mean you like me?" He teases. "Well, yeah, obviously. You and Annabeth are all I have now." I answer promptly. "I wasn't talking about Annabeth. I meant strictly us, do you like me?" he asks, a smile playing on the edge of his lips. For some stupid reason, my face goes red, and I'm silently praying he can't see it in the darkness. "So, umm, what was it you wanted to tell me?" I ask awkwardly, desperately trying to change the subject. He smiles, holding my hand tighter. "Where's your spear?" he asks, as if making small talk. "What?" I ask, the question taking me off guard. "Never mind. Just swear you'll listen to what I say before you attack or anything."


	4. I Want You To Be Safe

"I just…was thinking, I don't want you and Annabeth living like this, Thalia. It's dangerous to risk you both…" he says, obviously struggling to find words. I stay silent, hating where this is going. It feels like my stomach has just dropped 90 miles per hours in a matter of seconds. Luke's hand rests on mine, calming me. "You're both safer somewhere else."

"_What_?!" I demand. He ignores me.

"And maybe I can tell you when I find something stable, somewhere where we can be happy together, with Annabeth. I can come and find you."

I'm not hearing anything anymore. Wasn't he the one who promised her, promised me he wouldn't send us back to our families? And now he was being a freaking hypocrite. I exhale sharply, pretending to be preoccupied with my combat boots. "Luke Castellan, you have lost your mind." I mutter. He exhales too, his face regarding me coldly. "Is it so insane to want you safe?" he says, and suddenly his voice softens his face gentle. He touches my face, looking at me intently, so close I can hear his heart. I force myself to stay calm. "It's insane for you to want us to separate. We stay together. Nothing else." I tell him evenly. "It's going to be hard, I'm not saying it isn't." I compromise, holding his hand even tighter. He looks down at our intertwined hands but says nothing, staring into the woods. "I don't want to hurt you. Or Annabeth."

"You'd be hurting her worse by breaking your promise."

He nods, a hint of a smile on his lips. "Oh, what now?" I ask him, trying to sound annoyed, but only managing a smile. He grins, looking back at the tent. "Annabeth…"

"Special kid isn't she?" I ask, using the tone I used to whenever asked about Jason. "Very." He responds. We stay silent, listening to her breathe in her sleep. "She loves you, y'know." I tell him.

"She loves you too." He reassures me. I nod dismissively, my black hair falling into my eyes. "I…love you too." He says slowly. I look up at him, my eyes shining with fear. I love Luke, of course I do…but, the thing is, in what way? In what way does he love me? It all happens so quickly, I don't see it coming. My heart beats faster, adrenaline rushing to my veins. I know that feeling. It's the one that quickens my blood during a fight with a monster. I have a hard time keeping still and suddenly my ADHD picks up on the most random of facts, like how the fabric of my torn sweater feels on my cold skin, how his bright blue eyes look tired, with light circles underneath them. "It's fine." He says, his hand on my shoulder. "You don't have to say anything."

I touch his cheek, not trusting myself to say anything. He closes his eyes and leans into my touch for a moment. "I'm going to bed. Wanna come?" I say, immediately blushing at how stupid and wrong that sounded. He laughs, amused. "No, it's okay."

"What are you going to be doing out here?" I ask stupidly, trying to quickly change the subject. He seems deep in thought, all traces of laughter gone.

"I'll be planning our next move."

**Hey guys! it's me, and I just wanted to know what you think. Please leave me a review, they mean the world to me. Even a few words will leave me choking with satisfaction (Gods, I'm a dork.) and if you want more Thuke while you wait, read my story You Can Trust Me. Love you all! :)**


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